This year, you can be participate in the LA Marathon without running a mile, let alone 26.2 miles! The Tour De Pier Pop-Up Presented by CycleBar Santa Monica– a new one-of-a-kind outdoor stationary cycling event – gives your front row access to all the action of the LA Marathon course while fundraising for cancer.

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, CycleBar Santa Monica and the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, an official charity of the LA Marathon, will host a fundraising event sure to energize and inspire runners and riders alike. CycleBar Santa Monica will bring their heart-pumping excitement with three 60-minute outdoor classes at 9:00am, 10:15am and 11:30am taught by the studio’s most popular teachers. Participants may ride one or more of the sessions.

Participants will get a taste of Tour De Pier, the award-winning outdoor stationary cycling cancer fundraiser that raised more than $1.5 million for cancer organizations last year. This unique opportunity to work up a sweat outside of the spin studio also affords a great view of the over 25,000 marathoners who pass by mile 21. For $95 per session, you reserve your spot on a bike, get a sweet participant swag bag, and be able to high-five runners as they pass!

The Tour De Pier Pop-Up Presented by CycleBar Santa Monica will take place at the Hirshberg Foundation’s official cheer station, the Purple People Party located on the median strip on San Vicente Blvd along mile 21 of the Los Angeles Marathon. Aptly named for the color of pancreatic cancer awareness, the cheer station is one of the most popular and energetic spots on the course. Volunteers, families, cancer survivors and spectators come to the Purple People Party to celebrate marathon day, enjoy music, hand out healthy treats, and cheer and energize runners on their way to the finish line.

Only 26 bikes will be available for each session and this is one ride you don’t want to miss.

Reserve your bike now!

Not riding? Make a donation! Support a rider and cancer research when you visit, support.pancreatic.org/TDP-PopUp2020.

Pancreatic cancer symptoms often go undetected or might be mistakenly associated with other medical conditions. It’s important to know the common symptoms, as anyone experiencing one or more should speak with their doctor.

While the exact cause of pancreatic cancer is not known, certain risk factors are strongly linked to the disease, including tobacco smoking and obesity. People with specific genetic mutations have a greater risk of developing this disease as well as individuals who have two or more first-degree relatives who have had pancreatic cancer. The risk also increases if there is a history of familial breast, ovarian or colon cancer, familial melanoma or hereditary pancreatitis.

Take a moment to find out more about the symptoms and risk factors. If you or someone you love is experiencing one or more symptoms, or think there is an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, consult with your doctor today.

Share this graphic with your community to help raise pancreatic cancer awareness.

Through a special partnership with our friends at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) we’re making it easy to give back every time you dine out with a Philanthopizza Card!

Every time you use your Philanthropizza card, 20%* of your food & beverage purchases will be donated to the Hirshberg Foundation.

It’s easy – the more you visit CPK, the more money they donate to help fund research. All you need to do is present the Philanthropizza card to your server when you pay. Whether you dine in, take-out or have CPK cater your next event, your meal makes a difference.

Request your cards today »

The Philanthropizza Card is valid at the following CPK locations: Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Studio City, Pasadena, Encino, Glendale, Santa Anita, 7th Street LA, Westwood, Hollywood, Culver City or Century City from October 19, 2019 through June 1, 2020.

*Tax, gratuity, gift card and retail purchases excluded

We are excited to announce that Dr. Timothy Donahue will serve as the Honorary Medial Chair for the 22nd Annual LA Cancer Challenge. Dr. Donahue has been a valued member of the surgical team at the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases and a beloved speaker at our annual Symposium.

Both a researcher and a surgeon, Dr. Donahue will be recognized for his focus on personalized medicine and his collaborative efforts to provide the best treatment option for pancreatic cancer patients. Dr. Donahue’s advocacy for treating patients with chemo or radiation therapy prior to surgery, has led to some of the best survival rates. In addition, Dr. Donahue is dedicated to training the next generation of surgeons.

Beyond his accolades, Dr. Donahue embodies the Hirshberg Foundation spirit with his emphasis on the genuine care of patients. His optimism that pancreatic cancer survival rates will markedly improve during his career makes him the ideal candidate for our LACC Honorary Medical Chair.

Join Dr. Donahue & the pancreatic cancer community as we walk for research and race towards a cure at the LA Cancer Challenge on October 20th 2019 at UCLA!

More about Dr. Donahue:
Dr. Donahue was appointed to the UCLA faculty in 2009 and has made great strides in pancreatic cancer ever since. He is a Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and has a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology to facilitate his research program. His scientific research also focuses on developing improved treatment strategies and earlier diagnostic markers for patients with pancreatic cancer. Dr. Donahue is a valuable part of the surgical team at the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases, performing up to three pancreatic surgeries per week. In this role, he oversees all of cancer surgery including the pancreatic cancer program, which is one of the largest in the nation.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat in part because of the poorly understood and complex mechanisms of disease progression. Pancreatic cancer is characterized by the infiltration of multiple inflammatory cell types that surround the tumor, known as the tumor microenvironment. This microenvironment is harsh and nutrient-poor yet cancer cells continue to adapt and grow. Research by 2017 Seed Grant Awardee Mara Sherman, PhD seeks to better understand how the interaction of the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells fuels tumor growth in order to find better treatment options.

New research published in Cancer Discovery by Dr. Sherman, of Oregon Health & Science University, found that a specific cell type within the pancreatic tumor microenvironment known as stellate cells have evolved mechanisms to “feed” energy to cancer cells. These stellate cells simultaneously regulate the expression of cancer-supportive genes by tumor cells and secrete factors that promote the survival and growth of cancer cells.

Dr. Sherman’s research demonstrated that inhibition of this energy-providing mechanism drastically suppressed pancreatic tumor growth. This suggests that there are potential avenues for treatment through targeting the metabolic pathways of the stellate cells.

While further investigation is needed, this study is an important stepping stone in understanding the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. Dr. Sherman’s research suggests that despite the statistics, pancreatic cancer may have a novel metabolic vulnerability, which may be targetable for therapeutic benefit.

Read Dr. Sherman’s full paper at Cancer Discovery.

Dr. Sherman and Jurre Kamphorst, PhD, a co-author on this study, were interviewed as part of the National Cancer Institute’s RAS Initiative. From their website:

More than 30 percent of all human cancers – including 95 percent of pancreatic cancers and 45 percent of colorectal cancers — are driven by mutations of the RAS family of genes. NCI established the RAS initiative in 2013 to explore innovative approaches for attacking the proteins encoded by mutant forms of RAS genes and to ultimately create effective, new therapies for RAS-related cancers.

You can read the interview with Drs. Sherman & Kamphorst on the NCI’s website.

Recently published research from Seed Grant recipient, Matteo Ligorio, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School has expanded our understanding of how the stromal microenvironment shapes a pancreas tumor and can impact clinical outcomes.

Dr. Ligorio and his team discovered that cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) profoundly alter the tumor microenvironment promoting an aggressive cancer phenotype with the ability to proliferate (PRO) and metastasize (EMT), called the Double Positive (DP) phenotype. With the use of cutting-edge technologies including single-cell RNA sequencing, phosho mass spectrometry and mass cytometry it was revealed that the co-activation of MAPK and STAT3 signaling pathways in these DP cells. This discovery may provide a new combination therapy strategy to target these specific cancer cells.

Most significantly, this research highlights the significance of the intra-tumor architecture, and links it to treatment responsiveness. The diversity within the tumor means that the cells do not behave uniformly but instead make up different tumor “glands” with their own proliferative and metastatic propensity. These eight different types of tumor “glands” were associated with differences in stromal abundance and correlate with patient survival and treatment response.

This study is an important step forward in understanding the complex biology of the tumor microenvironment and paves the way for novel therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Ligorio and his team “would like to thank the Hirshberg Foundation for their generous support throughout the years…and especially express gratitude for being selected as a recipient of the 2017 Seed Grant.”

We congratulate Dr. Matteo Ligorio on this publication. The determination to understand the complex tumor microenvironment is providing the possibility of improved therapeutic options, and ultimately, increased survival rates.

Full article: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30510-0